LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Scores for at least 64 people who took the Arkansas bar exam between July 2020 and July 2025 were altered, according to a probable cause affidavit cited in reports by the *Arkansas Democrat-Gazette* and FOX16. Records reviewed by NEA Report did not specify how many of those examinees went on to practice law in Arkansas.
An internal review by the Arkansas Supreme Court revealed irregularities across eight testing cycles, officials said. According to six Supreme Court justices, evidence indicated that Nancie Givens, the former executive director of the court’s Office of Professional Programs, manipulated scores by taking points from some examinees and adding them to others. In some cases, altered scores reached or exceeded the 270-point threshold needed to pass the exam. The justices noted that at least one examinee whose exam scores initially exceeded that threshold may have been falsely recorded as failing.
The justices added that the Office of Professional Conduct would notify affected individuals as soon as their results are reconfirmed. However, they did not specify how many examinees received passing scores in error, nor how many may have been admitted to the Arkansas bar as a result.
NEA Report reached out to Robert Brech, executive director of the Arkansas Supreme Court’s Office of Professional Conduct and Programs, to request information on several outstanding issues. These include the total number of examinees who were wrongly recorded as passing, how many were admitted to the bar, whether the notifications of affected individuals have begun, and whether clients of impacted attorneys would be informed or have their cases reviewed. Brech was also asked whether the court can release records documenting the findings. At the time of publication, no response had been provided.
Gregg Parrish, executive director of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission, expressed concern about what attorneys might have known regarding the score changes. Parrish told the *Democrat-Gazette* that most attorneys acted in good faith, believing they had passed legitimately. However, he suggested that any attorneys who knowingly benefited from altered scores could face criminal charges, and their work might be voided.
Givens, 62, is now facing 65 felony counts of tampering with a public record. Court records show she was taken into custody on a warrant and pleaded not guilty on Nov. 5. Her bond was set at $2,500, and a review hearing is scheduled for Jan. 4. Additionally, an order sealing the investigative file has been entered into the record.
On the same day as her court appearance, a panel of the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct suspended Givens from practicing law in Arkansas. According to the suspension order, federal investigators seized electronic devices containing confidential records from the office Givens oversaw.
The investigation into the case is ongoing, and Givens remains innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.